Scavenger hunts, collecting bottle caps, observing shadows, and other outdoor activities can be developed into a mathematics unit that motivates students to acquire basic mathematical skills. A variety of natural ways to collect data are offered to help foster learning. (DF)

Presents 50 hands-on, amusing math activities to inspire elementary students to enjoy learning such math concepts as estimation, linear measurement, weight, volume, time, and temperature. Each activity is typed on a 5x7 index card and has an answer sheet. Following a minilesson, each student receives a card activity to complete. (SM)

Presents suggestions for integrating mathematical problem solving into all aspects of an elementary school classroom. This includes taking data from such areas as attendance and lunch counts, numbers of seats needed for an open house, amount of money needed for field trips, and many more. The article offers tips for powerful problem solving. (SM)

Discusses the importance of children's literature in kindergarten math instruction, noting it is rich with opportunities for children to think and reason. The article explains how teachers can find math connections in children's books and then select books. It describes two books appropriate for literature-based math lessons. (SM)

This mathematics activity for K-3 students has students plant and measure the growth of bulbs. The activity teaches them to measure, collect, and graph data. The article presents a list of materials needed, instructions for creating a chart, and sample discussion questions. (SM)

Problem-solving can be an exercise in mystification for some students. Six suggestions are given for presenting word problems in mathematics in ways that make them more accessible and comprehensible for young students. (PP)

Presents suggestions for teaching elementary students about shapes and similarities. Primary students can read an illustrated story that encourages observation and discussion of shapes. Intermediate students can cut shapes out of magazines and describe their similarities. Another activity teaches students that geometrically similar figures,…

By bringing some of the excitement of the stock market to the classroom, teachers can encourage students to learn about the financial world, read the newspaper, work cooperatively, and practice working with money and fractions. The article explains how to get students started and offers some advanced strategies. (SM)

Presents a group of 24 innovative mathematics activities from teachers nationwide designed to sharpen elementary students' math skills. The article is part of a package of 100 creative ideas for keeping elementary students enthused about learning in language arts, science, social studies, and math. (SM)

Elementary level math activity helps students learn averages, percentages, and mathematical predictions using candies and a computer spreadsheet. Students estimate, collect data, and compare actual counts against their predictions. (SM)

An open classroom provides the setting for a Philadelphia teacher who uses unconventional but effective methods to teach the three R's. Examples of Lynne Yermanock Strieb's approaches to teaching reading and mathematics to first- and second-grade students are given. (PP)

Describes a consumer-math-skills project in which students make geometric shapes using pretzel sticks and gumdrops, then start a shop to sell them. This requires counting costs, pricing items, setting up shop, using money, making change, and understanding profits. Students reflect on the experience and write lists of the math they used to create…

This book, which is geared toward K-6 classroom teachers with little or no experience in movement education, emphasizes the integration of movement with the academic subjects taught in the classroom. Movement experiences are presented through specific problems that children can solve by using their bodies in a variety of ways. The problems can be…

This article presents a group project that uses math, science, and art to help elementary school students explore the tones of music in their own world. The children make music out of their own telephone numbers, create a soda bottle and drinking glass band, and graph their own telephone numbers. (SM)

This article introduces a section with 100 innovative suggestions for creative activities that go across the curriculum and across grade levels and that are designed to hold students' enthusiasm. The activities are grouped by language arts, math, science, and social studies. (SM)